September's book and activities are for grades 7-12.
The September book selection is Scars by Cheryl Rainfield.
"Fifteen-year-old Kendra, a budding artist, has not felt safe since she began to recall devastating memories of childhood sexual abuse, especially since she cannot remember her abuser's identity, and she copes with the pressure by cutting herself." Scars was on the 2011 Quicks Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.
Please RSVP to Mindy Engler engler_m@ccsdistrict.org by 3:00 PM Friday, September 16 if you are participating in this month's activities. Please state if you want to receive the 8 LPDC hours, the 6.5 Staff Development hours, or both.
Discussions and lesson plans need to be posted by 9:00 PM Sunday, September 25.
We will meet to discuss the books on Monday, September 26 from 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM in the Timken Library. Please enter the Timken Commons from the 4th St. parking lot at Door 2. The Library is on the second floor up the big, blue staircase.
And now a word (or 2 or 3) from the author, Cheryl Rainfield...
new comment:
Thank you all for reading Scars--I think you got it beautifully! I think many of you got different aspects of the book, all things that were really important to me in writing (and editing) it. I love how carefully you all read Scars, and how you really got it. I am so glad that you understand self-harm more, and about how much can be going on in a student's life that may look mostly okay on the outside (though there are usually indicators, and both I and Kendra had many). You all did a wonderful read and thoughtful discussion!
I wanted to respond to a few things. In Question #2, someone said therapy was vital to Kendra's recovering her repressed memories, and i wholeheartedly agree--it can be too hard to do alone. Someone also mentioned that self-harm is most common with physical abuse. I've found from personal experience and other survivors and people who've self-harmed that I've talked with that self-harm is most common for sexual abuse survivors, and can actually be an indicator of sexual abuse or incest. And it was mentioned that a counselor would have noticed sooner. That's not always--and I think not often--true. I went for quite a long time without anyone knowing. More than 6 months. I hid the cutting well (and sort of desperately; I didn't want anyone to know and stop me because I needed it to survive the emotional pain and trauma of the past abuse memories and the abuse I was still living).
In Question #3, someone mentioned court and wondered about my experience. For me, because the abuse was so extreme (my parents were part of intergenerational cults, so I not only experienced rape through them, but through cult members and people they rented me to, as well as torture), and because the abuse was still happening, I dissociated from it, and suppressed it until I started to remember. I first remembered my great uncle raping me--it was easier because he didn't live in the same house as me. When I told a teacher at school, they took it to children's services and brought in the police. It was going to go to court. But over the course of two or three years of therapy, I remembered more and more horrific things, and finally could face that my parents were abusing me. At that point I ran away from home, cutting off contact with them all--including the police. I never did go through the court system. I was also very aware that it would be traumatic for me, that the legal system is set up for abusers, and that the things I'd been through were so extreme that many people wouldn't want to believe. I still feel guilty...but it would have hurt me so much more.
But I wrote Kendra being able to, because sometimes survivors can. I faced my abusers in my own way (writing articles for other survivors, writing the book, talking at conferences, etc.)
And I'm glad you all got how important support and compassion can be. Those made a real difference for me.
I put a lot of my own experiences into the fiction of Scars--I'm glad you felt the honesty! It's something I think is important--speaking to teens' real experiences and pain, not sugar coating them, not trying to hide them, but...reaching teens who are going through this now. Reaching others who might not have understood until there was an honest discussion.
Thank you so much for reading Scars!
_
Thanks so much for asking me here, Mindy! I love that you're all discussing Scars.If you all have any questions for me, ask and I'll do my best to answer them. Students can also contact me through my email cheryl (at) cherylrainfield (dot) com, my blog http://www.CherylRainfield.com/blog, my website CherylRainfield.com, Twitter, FaceBook, etc.
As you might have read in the Author's Note at the back of Scars, there's a lot of my own experience woven into the fiction. Like Kendra, I'm a sexual abuse survivor, I used self-harm to cope, and I'm queer. And like Kendra, art (and writing) were also things I used to help me cope and heal, along with therapy.
There's a lot of misunderstanding and negativity--generally angry, blaming, or controlling responses--from people about self-harm (and also about being queer, and even sexual abuse). And when you're using self-harm to cope, to try to survive trauma, abuse, or some form of oppression, it makes it so much more painful to have people blame, control, etc. And there's often silence about all of those issues--and especially self-harm. So there were a few things I especially wanted in writing Scars--I wanted people who hadn't had those experiences (self-harm, sexual abuse, being queer) to come away with more compassion, greater understanding, less judgment. And I wanted people who had had those experiences to feel less alone, and to know that there is hope, and they can get through. And I've found, from the reader letters I get every week, that both of those things have happened. I'm so grateful!
There are a lot of teens in emotional pain--a lot of teens who've been sexually abused (the stats are at least 1 in 3 for girls before the age of 18--I think it's more because there's so many of us who couldn't speak out while being abused, and 1 in 5 for boys), a lot of teens who've used or tried self-harm (3 in 10 girls and 1 in 10 boys), and of course there are many queer, bi, and questioning teens (and a lot of homophobia in our society, which increases pain). So these issues are important and relevant to likely many of your students.
I have some resources I've written that might help you or your students, if you're interested:
The September book selection is Scars by Cheryl Rainfield.
"Fifteen-year-old Kendra, a budding artist, has not felt safe since she began to recall devastating memories of childhood sexual abuse, especially since she cannot remember her abuser's identity, and she copes with the pressure by cutting herself."
Scars was on the 2011 Quicks Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.
Please RSVP to Mindy Engler engler_m@ccsdistrict.org by 3:00 PM Friday, September 16 if you are participating in this month's activities. Please state if you want to receive the 8 LPDC hours, the 6.5 Staff Development hours, or both.
Discussions and lesson plans need to be posted by 9:00 PM Sunday, September 25.
We will meet to discuss the books on Monday, September 26 from 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM in the Timken Library. Please enter the Timken Commons from the 4th St. parking lot at Door 2. The Library is on the second floor up the big, blue staircase.
Discussion Questions:
To add you lesson plan:
- Save your lesson plan as a word document.
- Name your lesson plan the title of the book - your name (Example: Scars-Mindy)
- Click on "Edit This Page" - make sure the curser is below "Please add your Lesson Plans here;"
- Click the File button on the Edit bar
- Click Upload Files
- Highlight your lesson plan
- Click Open
- Once your document is listed, double click on it. It "should" appear on this page.
- Click "Save" on the upper right hand corner of the Edit bar.
(or you can jsut email your lesson plan to me)Please add your Lesson Plans here:
And now a word (or 2 or 3) from the author, Cheryl Rainfield...
new comment:
Thank you all for reading Scars--I think you got it beautifully! I think many of you got different aspects of the book, all things that were really important to me in writing (and editing) it. I love how carefully you all read Scars, and how you really got it. I am so glad that you understand self-harm more, and about how much can be going on in a student's life that may look mostly okay on the outside (though there are usually indicators, and both I and Kendra had many). You all did a wonderful read and thoughtful discussion!
I wanted to respond to a few things. In Question #2, someone said therapy was vital to Kendra's recovering her repressed memories, and i wholeheartedly agree--it can be too hard to do alone. Someone also mentioned that self-harm is most common with physical abuse. I've found from personal experience and other survivors and people who've self-harmed that I've talked with that self-harm is most common for sexual abuse survivors, and can actually be an indicator of sexual abuse or incest. And it was mentioned that a counselor would have noticed sooner. That's not always--and I think not often--true. I went for quite a long time without anyone knowing. More than 6 months. I hid the cutting well (and sort of desperately; I didn't want anyone to know and stop me because I needed it to survive the emotional pain and trauma of the past abuse memories and the abuse I was still living).
In Question #3, someone mentioned court and wondered about my experience. For me, because the abuse was so extreme (my parents were part of intergenerational cults, so I not only experienced rape through them, but through cult members and people they rented me to, as well as torture), and because the abuse was still happening, I dissociated from it, and suppressed it until I started to remember. I first remembered my great uncle raping me--it was easier because he didn't live in the same house as me. When I told a teacher at school, they took it to children's services and brought in the police. It was going to go to court. But over the course of two or three years of therapy, I remembered more and more horrific things, and finally could face that my parents were abusing me. At that point I ran away from home, cutting off contact with them all--including the police. I never did go through the court system. I was also very aware that it would be traumatic for me, that the legal system is set up for abusers, and that the things I'd been through were so extreme that many people wouldn't want to believe. I still feel guilty...but it would have hurt me so much more.
But I wrote Kendra being able to, because sometimes survivors can. I faced my abusers in my own way (writing articles for other survivors, writing the book, talking at conferences, etc.)
And I'm glad you all got how important support and compassion can be. Those made a real difference for me.
I put a lot of my own experiences into the fiction of Scars--I'm glad you felt the honesty! It's something I think is important--speaking to teens' real experiences and pain, not sugar coating them, not trying to hide them, but...reaching teens who are going through this now. Reaching others who might not have understood until there was an honest discussion.
Thank you so much for reading Scars!
_
Thanks so much for asking me here, Mindy! I love that you're all discussing Scars.If you all have any questions for me, ask and I'll do my best to answer them. Students can also contact me through my email cheryl (at) cherylrainfield (dot) com, my blog http://www.CherylRainfield.com/blog, my website CherylRainfield.com, Twitter, FaceBook, etc.
As you might have read in the Author's Note at the back of Scars, there's a lot of my own experience woven into the fiction. Like Kendra, I'm a sexual abuse survivor, I used self-harm to cope, and I'm queer. And like Kendra, art (and writing) were also things I used to help me cope and heal, along with therapy.
There's a lot of misunderstanding and negativity--generally angry, blaming, or controlling responses--from people about self-harm (and also about being queer, and even sexual abuse). And when you're using self-harm to cope, to try to survive trauma, abuse, or some form of oppression, it makes it so much more painful to have people blame, control, etc. And there's often silence about all of those issues--and especially self-harm. So there were a few things I especially wanted in writing Scars--I wanted people who hadn't had those experiences (self-harm, sexual abuse, being queer) to come away with more compassion, greater understanding, less judgment. And I wanted people who had had those experiences to feel less alone, and to know that there is hope, and they can get through. And I've found, from the reader letters I get every week, that both of those things have happened. I'm so grateful!
There are a lot of teens in emotional pain--a lot of teens who've been sexually abused (the stats are at least 1 in 3 for girls before the age of 18--I think it's more because there's so many of us who couldn't speak out while being abused, and 1 in 5 for boys), a lot of teens who've used or tried self-harm (3 in 10 girls and 1 in 10 boys), and of course there are many queer, bi, and questioning teens (and a lot of homophobia in our society, which increases pain). So these issues are important and relevant to likely many of your students.
I have some resources I've written that might help you or your students, if you're interested:
Reasons Not To Hurt Yourself (I think this is very powerful for people who self-harm; I wrote the things I needed to hear)
http://cherylrainfield.com/blog/index.php/2011/05/06/reasons-not-to-hurt-yourself/
Tips on Dealing With Self-Harm (there are three separate sets of tips, and an article)
http://www.cherylrainfield.com/cherylPage_Articles.html#selfHarm
my It Gets Better video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_XIpkisWxo
my Scars book trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF5xEKY0LAU
Self-Harm Is NOT Trendy
http://cherylrainfield.com/blog/index.php/2011/06/10/self-harm-is-not-trendy
You might also be interested in:
my video on banned and challenged books
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8HWyL5Y8L4